Friday, February 11, 2011

I cannot tell if tonight’s game between the New York
Islanders and the Pittsburgh Penguins classifies as a hockey game or a game of ‘Punch
Out.’ There was bad blood left over from
the last meeting between these two teams where Rick DiPietro had his face
busted up and Blake Comeau was given a concussion on a hit by Max Talbot.

It was the Talbot incident from the last game that
seemed to set fire to the first altercation of the night when the Islanders Matt
Martin attempted to sucker-punch of Talbot, while up 6-0 that started the first
of many line brawls on the night. Martin
should be and likely will be suspended for the sucker-punch for multiple games.

Later in the game came another line brawl, which this
time was set off by Trevor Gillies dirty leaping elbow to Eric Tangradi, which
was only made worse by his punching him in the back of the head while he was on
the ice. Gillies should get at least 10
games for his actions in this incident.

During this fight Michael Haley, who was just called
up from the AHL, fought Max Talbot and then proceeded to be a “real-man” and
challenge Brent Johnson to a skater-vs-fighter bout. Johnson seemed to be game for the fight, but
as he should Eric Godard came in to stick up for his goalie. The only problem with that is Godard left the
bench to do so, which will result in a significant suspension for him.

By the time the action was done
the Penguins had a grand total of two players left on their bench and the
Islanders had a whopping four. As of now
the official total is 351 penalty minutes in the game according to the official
scoresheet, but that could change. Oh
yea, there was a result to the game too with the Isles winning 9-3.

This one hurts.There is no other way to say it than that
simple sentence.When you are the New
York Rangers, have lost five games in a row, and are playing a team chasing you
in the playoffs you have to finish off a game where you have a 2-1 lead with
six minutes left. You cannot blow that
game and talk about the playoffs without hearing Jim Mora echoing in the
background as the losing streak extends to six consecutive games and everyone
behind them is getting that much closer, and have games in hand.

The Rangers played
well again in the first period, but once again had nothing to show for it.The Blueshirts would fall behind 1-0 on an
Anthony Stewart tally.The goal came midway
through the first when Evander Kane caused an Artem Anisimov turnover in the
neutral zone, fed the puck to Alex Burmistrov and Burmistrov saucered a pass
over a sliding Michael Del Zotto to Stewart who slid it under Henrik
Lundqvist.On the play Matt Gilroy fell
down in the transition from offense back to defense which created the
two-on-one opportunity.I really hate
the slide play by all Rangers defenders because they never seem to make it work
and Del Zotto employs the tactic way too often.That would be the only tally of the period.

The Rangers would
generate not only an early power play, but actually score a power play goal to
open the second period.Stewart took a
bad offensive zone penalty and the Rangers would win the ensuing draw, Staal would
head towards the net and after a beautiful pass from Prospal to Gaborik would
fail to be capitalized on by Gaborik, Staal would put home the rebound.

The Rangers would
strike again early in the third period, when Marian Gaborik would make a
beautiful feed to Brandon Dubinsky who would beat Pavelec high to give the
Rangers their first lead in an astonishing 255:35.That would be about the point where the
Rangers highlights would end.

At 7:36 of the third
period, with the team up 2-1 on the scoreboard, Marian Gaborik had a penalty
shot chance to in some respects salt away the game and frankly he choked.This is that moment where the great players
find a way, even will the puck into the net and he came up short.While that is the case that is not the reason
the team lost, but more on that later.

The last six minutes of the game
were the Evander Kane show.Kane would
tie the game with just under six to play on a somewhat lucky goal that he would
partially fan on the backhand and bounces and deflections would see it in.Following an awful turnover and penalty by
Michael Del Zotto, it would be Kane again on the power play with just 2:20 to
go in the game.The penalty and the
turnover are on Del Zotto, but the goal was pitiful coverage where Kane got
second and third chances with no one clearing the puck out.

The guy that really got the
short end and will take the loss the hardest is Henrik Lundqvist.His defense left him hanging on at least two
of the three goals after he made numerous brilliant saves to keep them in the
game and then maintain the lead early in the third.Way too many turnovers tonight and as I said,
defensive zone was bad.

Marian Gaborik was
the Rangers best player tonight.I know
he didn’t finish his chances and he must start doing that, but without Gaborik
they are not in this game at all.He skated
hard, he took shots, he was aggressive in all zones.As I said this afternoon, Gaborik
would start to turn it around tonight and he did in the effort
department.If I get 25 more efforts
like that one out of Marian I will not have a bad word to say about him and the
goals will come.Anyone who watched that
game and is complaining about Gaborik needs to check to see if they really
watched the game and not just read the negative comments section on twitter.

Michael Del Zotto
belongs in the minors, there is no other way to say it, but he did not lose
this game for the Rangers. That was a
TEAM collapse.

Gilroy played a very
poor game tonight as if he was trying to get Eminger in the lineup or knew DZ
was going to screw the pooch and wanted to save him.

You have to love Prust’s
heart and will, but he needs to be smarter about when to fight and who to
fight.There was no purpose to his fight
with Boulton tonight and he took his worst beating of the year in the scrap.

The Rangers need their star sniper, Marian Gaborik, to
start producing. There is no grand
revelation in that statement and few have been more critical of his struggles
than I have. The revelation for me comes
in the form that his resurgence will begin tonight. The fact that the Rangers as a team and many
individuals are having surprisingly good seasons only seeks to heighten the
negative year Gaborik is having and I have clearly expressed that frustration
on occasion. My issue with Gaborik has
never been purely results based, but rather about the mentality he appears to
be playing with this season and I am hopeful that part will change starting
tonight. I am sure that when that part
shifts, the results will take care of themselves.

I look for the fact that the Rangers have kept the
mood positive, the extra practice time and the consistency of lines to push
Gaborik forward tonight and skate like he has in his better games this
year. I expect that Marian will start
going to the front of the net more and getting those “vulture” goals that made
his season last year.

What might have started as an injury issue developed
into a confidence issue and while with some the prodding and tough love seem to
be helpful, that does not seem to be the case with Gaborik. To be clear, I am not saying he is soft or
that he doesn’t care because he strikes me as a star who does and that fact might
have become his problem through all of this.
The level at which Gaborik does care and does understand his importance
to this team causes him to put more pressure on himself, which leads to him
playing a tight game. This manifests
itself in looking for the perfect play instead of just taking the simple one. It is on a larger scale the same problem that
Michael Del Zotto has faced this year, but the better correlation might be with
Ilya Kovalchuk.

When the year began Kovalchuk spent so much time and
energy in trying to fit into the system that he forgot how to play his game as
an addition to that system. That has
changed in New Jersey for Kovalchuk as you watch him now and his gallup has
returned and he is back to playing his style of hockey. Now Gaboirk will do the same. On the surface, the things that Gaborik does
best and the new Rangers identity seem to clash. On the ice it manifests itself in Gaborik
being content to dump the puck in and play along the wall instead of doing what
he does best; skate.

"It starts with his legs. He's a freak as far as
the way he can skate," Tortorella said. "If we can get him moving his
legs, the rest will come. Sometimes, when a goal-scorer isn't scoring goals, he
needs to stop thinking about scoring goals. Just do the work and the results
will come."

The Rangers need Marian to be that dynamic threat that
everyone in the building rises to their feet every time he touches the
puck. The need to opponent’s to fear him
on every shift. They need him to get
back to doing what makes him so dangerous to play against. That begins with his skating and carrying the
puck instead of dumping it in. It
continues with shooting off the rush as it will create not only space, but
rebounds for his teammates.

When it becomes consistent all the talk will stop and
the love will begin again. I believe
that transition begins tonight. Maybe I
am being overly optimistic, which would be a change, but playing the negative
side on Gaborik has not helped the Rangers out at all, so time to try something
different. Let’s have a little faith
because the there is no doubt the talent is still in there and if we believe in
Gaborik enough, maybe, just maybe he will find it in himself.

The degree to which tonight’s
game matter for the New York Rangers might just depend on what the focus of
this season is really about.If the season
is about making the playoffs and trying to somehow win a championship, then
tonight is likely seen as a huge game for the Blueshirts.If, on the other hand, this season was always
about developing the young players for the future and thinking this season was
a year early, then there is still the bigger picture to consider and the
success the year has been already to focus on.What has gotten lost over this five game losing streak is that big
picture.It is a natural thing to be
upset that the team is struggling, but all teams go through slumps.The difference truly is the expectation level
that is causing the fans to get up on the ledge with the inclination to jump
ship.

When the season began, I would
bet, most Rangers’ fans, if they were realistic with themselves, expected this
team to either battle for one of the last three playoff spots, or just miss the
extra season.Don’t look now, but that
is exactly where the Rangers are right now.Despite this five game skid, the team is still in seventh place with a
three point lead on eighth and four points inside the playoffs in the East.Reality is most of the teams behind the
Rangers have been unable to take advantage of the recent slide, except for the
Sabres who have gotten themselves in the race.The more important reality for me though is that none of those teams
matter because it is about what the Rangers have done and will do.

As with anything else in life,
expectations change.That is what is at
the heart of the reaction to the five game winless streak.As Rangers fans, we have seen our share of
five game losing streaks and before it began likely expected to see more this
season.What happened was in the first
half of the year, the long losing streaks never came; the team always found a
way to stop them at three games or less.The fact that the team could shut down the bad play and respond with a
result created that expectation.The
fact that the team has consistently found a way to battle back in third periods
and pull out wins, created an expectation that leaves fans shocked when they do
not complete the comeback.Add to that
the success the team had in hanging on while all these key parts were missing
and it is unfathomable to see them struggle at possibly the healthiest point
they have had all year.

This team has shown too much
heart, too much character for this to continue and so I expect they will turn
it back around, and make the playoffs, but that is not what is important for me
this year.I am not here to say that I
do not care about making the playoffs because more hockey for the team I follow,
the team I love is always something I wish for, but what I am saying is
regardless of playoffs/no playoffs, deep run or first round exit, the 2010-11
season has been the most successful one for my money in years.

When we get some perspective on
the year as a whole, then we can step back and realize all that has been
accomplished in the first 56 games in total to see what the last 26 will work
themselves out.The team has formed an
identity as a tough team to play and more importantly one that never gives up
on a game.It is those two things right
there that have keyed the overall team success and what is making fans so
bewildered that the breaks are not going for the team right now.

On the individual level there is
so much to be proud of with this team.Ryan
Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky have taken strides to the next level on and off
the ice.The team is getting huge
contributions from four rookies (Stepan, Zuccarello, Sauer, McDonagh) who are
showing night in and night out that they belong on this level.Brian Boyle has taken a giant leap from a
journeyman type player to a team leader, both in how he plays the game and
sticking pucks in the net.Brandon Prust
has had his warrior mentality wear off on this locker room and made a statement
that he is part of the core of this franchise.

There have certainly been
disappointments this year on an individual level, but sometimes we, certainly
myself included, get lost in focusing on the ones who are failing to meet
expectations than praising those who are exceeding them.This team while struggling is certainly
exceeding what the initial expectations were and we should all keep that in
mind before we pull the fire alarm because we lost sight of what the real goals
of this season were.

As this Rangers’ team has fought
all season, I expect to see that fight tonight in Atlanta, and win or lose the
focus for me will be on the effort this team has brought all year and the development
of these players for the future.If the
team continues in their fight and the young core continues to develop, then the
score at the end of the night does not matter because the team, the
organization is still moving in the right direction.